Gravity feeder



Sept. 24, 1935. E s ET AL 2,015,436

GRAVITY FEEDER Filed March 30, 1934 ATTORNEY sure in combination withfuel burners.

Patented Sept. 24, 1935 v UNITED v ST TES 2,015,436 GRAVITY FEEDERBernhard Nemes and Bernard'Gluck, New York, N. Y.

Application March 30, 1934, Serial No. 718,177

1 Claim.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an oil burner in which thefuel is fed mechanically, thereby eliminating the necessity for feedingthe fuel by air pressure.

The invention is an apparatus for momentarily applying pressure toliquid fuel by means of an accumulator as the fuel is injected into theburner.

Many oil burners of different types have been invented and to some ofthese burners the fuel is fed by gravity, or without pressure, however,in most burners the fuel is fed by, or in combination with, airpressure; and some States have passed laws prohibiting the use of airunder pres- It has been found advantageous, however, to feed the fuel tothe burner under pressure as, in doing so, the fuel is volatilized andburned more effectively. v

The object of this invention is, therefore, to

provide means for momentarily applying pressure to the fuel as it isburned without the use of air pressure and in which only a very smallquantity of the fuel is under pressure.

Another object is to provide means for applying pressure to fuel bymeans of an accumulator in which substantially all of the fuel underpressure is used with each operation.

Another object is to provide automatic means for periodically applyingpressure to fuel as it is burned.

A further object is to provide a feed for fuel oil in which theoperating mechanism operates for very short periods of time.

A further object is to provide a feed for fuel oil which may be remotelysituated from the electrical means by which it is operated;

And a still further object is to provide means for feeding fuel oil bymeans which is of, a simple and economical construction.

With these ends in view the invention embodies a cylinder having aplunger therein with counter weights for the plunger, a connection fromthe lower end of the cylinder to an oil burner, another connection fromthe lower end of the cylinder to a motor driven pump, a supplyconnection from the pump to a fuel supply container, an overflow'returnconnection from the cylinder to the fuel supply container and meansautomatically starting and stopping said pump as the plunger in thecylinder reaches the ends of its stroke.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing the general arrange ment of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a detail showing the accumulator feed cylinder.

Figure 3 is a cross section thru the cylinder. 5

Figure 4 is a detail showing the plan of the burner with the connectionsthereto.

In the drawing the device is shown as it would be made wherein numeral Iindicates the cylinder, numeral 2 the pump, and numeral 3 the burner.

The cylinder l is preferably made with a tubular casing having a base 4which may be mounted upon a stand 5 and in the interior of the cylinderis a piston 6 which may be provided with packing rings of any type ordescription.

The piston is connected to a rod 1 which extends upward and out of theupper end of the cylinder thru a bearing 8, which is comparatively longin order to form a guide for the rod 1, and the upper end of the bearingmay be provided with a packing gland 9 which may be of any type ordescription, or any means may be used for packing the upper end of thecylinder. A disc I8 is mounted on the upper end of the rod i havingbolts H extending downward therefrom, on the lower ends of which arecounter weights i2 which may be held by nuts as shown, or by any othermeans. The counter weights may be provided with a continuous slot I3forming a keyway and a projection Hi may be provided on the surface ofthe cylinder, forming a key to locate the position of the counterweights in order to hold them in one position. It will be understood,however, that any other means may be used for locating and holding thecounter weights in any position in relation to the cylinder, and themember [4 may be made integral with the cylinder or attached thereto, orheld in any manner.

A member l5 may be attached to one side of the counter weights and thismay be formed with a projection It at the upper end and a similarprojection [1 at the lower end, and the relative positions of theseprojections may be arranged so that they will engage a button l8 of aswitch IS on a bracket 20, as shown in Figure 1, and-this switch maycontrol a motor 2| which operates the pump 2. It will be observed thatwith the counter weights moving downward from the position shown inFigure 1 the projection [6 will engage the button 18 when the counterweights arrive at the lower position, as indicated cuit thru the motorso that the motor will operate the pump, and as the pump operates itwill pump fuel into the. lower end of the cylinder, thereby raising thepiston and counter weights until the projection H engages the button I8and reverses the position of the switch, thereby stopping the motor. Assoon as the motor stops the weight of the counter weights will rest uponthe oil in the cylinder so that the oil will be forced thru an outletconnection 23 to the burner 3, thereby supplying fuel under pressurewith the pressure resulting from gravity, and it will be noted that assoon as the piston reaches the lower position the pump will operate toagain fill the cylinder 1 with fuel, and during the operation the fuelwill be under pressure from the pump so that a continuous supply of fuelwill be fod to the burner and this will not be interrupted by theoperation of returning the piston to the upper position. The pump isconnected to the lower end of the cylinder thru connection 24 and theintake port thereof may be connected by connection 25 to supplycontainer 26 and it will be noted that the container 26 may be locatedat a remote point, or wherever desired. The connections 23 and 24 areprovided with ball check valves 21 and 28 which are oppositelypositioned, as shown in Figure 2. The valve 28 will permit the fluid toflow into the cylinder and the valve 21 will permit the fluid to flowfrom the cylinder. It will be understood, however, that these checkvalves may be of any other type or design and may be arranged in anyother manner. Casters 29 may be provided on the lower side of thecounter weights which will contact the surface of the cylinderl toprevent friction between cylinder and weights. It will also beunderstood that any other means may be used for locating or holding thecounter weights in relation to the cylinder. The upper end of thecylinder may be provided with an overflow connection 30, which extendsback to a supply container 26, so that any leak or drip will pass backto the supply container.

The connection 23 extends from the base of the cylinder, as shown inFigures 1 and 2, and is connected to the upper end of the burner, asshown in Figure 4. It may be directly connected to a generator 3|,however, this may also be provided with an auxiliary connection 32having valve 33 therein which may pass thru a heater 34 positioned atthe front of the burner, as shown in Figure 4, or located in anyposition. In the design shown, the heater 34 is formed with an electricheating element which may be supplied with electric current by a wire35, which may be connected to any source of supply and it will be notedthat when starting the burner a valve in the connection 23 may be closedand the valve 33 opened so that the fuel may directly pass into theheater 34 and from the lower side thereof to the burner through aconnection 31, as shown in Figure 1, and after the burner and generator3| are hot the valve 33 may be closed and the valve 36 opened, so thatfuel will pass directly thru the generator 3| and into the burner thru aconnection 38, which is provided with a regulating valve 39. It will beunderstood, however, that these connections may be formed in any othermanner and the valves may be located in any other position, and alsothat any other means may be'used for heating the fuel when starting theburner. I

It will be understood that changes may be made in the constructionwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. One of-said changesmay be in the use of a container of any other type or design for holdingthe fuel, another may be in the use of other means or exerting pressureon the fuel by gravity, another may be in the use of other means forelevating the gravity acting pressure producing means, another may be inthe use of other means of feeding the fuel to the burner, and stillanother may be in the use of the device with a burner of any other typeor design.

The construction will be readily understood from the foregoingdescription. In use the device may be used as shown and described and itwill be noted that the cylinder may be located at any remote point andconnected to the burner by any means and the fuel supply pipe may extendto a container or supply tank which may be situated at any point. Whenit is desired to light the burner the heat is turned on and the oil orfuel is first passed thru the heater and the burner lighted, and afterthe generator is sufficiently hot to atomize the fuel, the heater isturned off and the oil passed directly to the generator. With thisapparatus the oil is, therefore, fed to the generator under pressurewithout the use of air under pressure and the amount of fuel in thecylinder is comparatively small, so that there is no possible danger ofan explosion of any kind. The device may also operate continuously ormay be turned on and off as may be desired. The device may be made ofany size and arranged in any manner to accommodate a burner of any type.

Having thus fully described the invention what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

An accumulator for oil burners comprising a vertically positionedcylinder of considerable height, a base in which said cylinder ismounted, inlet and outlet connections in said base and communicatingwith said cylinder, a check valve in said inlet connection preventingfluid from said cylinder flowing backward therethrough, a check valve insaid outlet connection preventing fluid flowing from the connection backinto the cylinder, said valves positioned in close proximity to thelower end of the cylinder eliminating storage of fluid in saidconnections, a piston in said cylinder, a closure for the upper end ofsaid cylinder having a relatively long bearing extending upward from theupper end of said cylinder, an overflow connection for leakage past saidpiston communicating with the upper end of said cylinder through saidclosure, a piston rod connected to said piston and extending upwardthrough said bearing, said piston rod being comparatively smaller thanthe piston and cylinder, a packing gland at the upper end of saidbearing, a spider on the upper end of said piston rod positioned asuflicient distance from the upper end of the bearing to permit thepiston to travel tothe lower end of the cylinder, rods extendingdownward from said spider, and weights removably supported on said rods,said weights provided in sections and adapted to be removed and replacedto adjust the load on the piston, said cylinder having a key on theouter surface thereof corresponding with a groove in the weights tolocate the position of the weights, and said weights having projectionsextending therefrom adapted to engage a starting and stopping switch.

BERNHARD NEMES.

BERNARD GLUCK.

